Pathophysiology of ageing, longevity and age related diseases

Abstract

On April 18, 2007 an international meeting on Pathophysiology of Ageing, Longevity and Age-Related Diseases was held in Palermo, Italy. Several interesting topics on Cancer, Immunosenescence, Age-related inflammatory diseases and longevity were discussed. In this report we summarize the most important issues. However, ageing must be considered an unavoidable end point of the life history of each individual, nevertheless the increasing knowledge on ageing mechanisms, allows envisaging many different strategies to cope with, and delay it. So, a better understanding of pathophysiology of ageing and age-related disease is essential for giving everybody a reasonable chance for living a long and enjoyable final part of the life.

Figure 1

Mortality in Sicily after age of 80 years: Male (left) Female (right) period 1994–2001 (low mortality in blue, high mortality in red). For women in blue area the mortality is higher than in Italy. The municipalities concerned do not include polluted areas and are small, with the lowest number of inhabitants.